Where Is God Calling You Today?

(Prayer offered on the Public Address system for the entire La Salle Academy educational community on Monday, 9 April 2018)

Good morning. First let me wish our Orthodox brothers and sisters a happy Easter.

Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of a loving God.

There is an old saying that says: “When God closes a door, God opens a window.” Let me say that again, “When God closes a door, God opens a window.” The idea behind this saying is that we never really know where life is going to take us and rarely do we end up where we think we’ll end up.

I know this has been true in my own life. Maybe it has been true in yours. It was certainly true for our Founder, John Baptist de La Salle. He was a wealthy man on the fast track to becoming an even wealthier Church leader in France when God, through a chance encounter with Adrien Nyel, led him to give up his wealth and found schools for poor boys. We would not be sitting here today, if it were not for that. His decision to follow God’s will was not the easy thing to do – it led to much pain and suffering for John Baptist de La Salle, but also to much joy and satisfaction. After all, the old saying says that God leaves a window open for us and climbing through a window is much more difficult than strolling through a door … even if it does give us a chance to see the world from a different – often more beautiful – perspective.

Today, we Catholics celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation, the day when Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. Today we remember the day when God closed the door of a normal life to the teenaged Blessed Virgin Mary and opened the window to a life full of tremendous sorrow and tremendous joy, a life full of grace. Mary’s life was anything but ordinary from that day forward. But it was the life that she was called to live so that she could be most fully the person that God made her to be. She’s a perfect example of how following God’s call – whatever it is – can change your life, fulfill you, and make you into the person you are meant to be. “When God closes a door, God opens a window.” Climbing through a window is never easy, but – with God’s help – it is always worth it.

My challenge to you today is to just listen. Take the ear buds out. Close the screen. Shut off the television. Find a quiet spot and listen. Where is God calling you today?

Let us pray:

Lord God, we know that following you does not always seem easy. Give us the grace to follow you anyway, just as the Blessed Virgin Mary made a decision to follow you two thousand years ago. Amen.

St. John Baptist de La Salle … pray for us.

Live Jesus in our hearts … forever.

Charles da Silva–Religion Teacher

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